Founded in 1997, Little Chef Niang is a well-known local chain restaurant brand in Nanjing, mainly engaged in traditional Huaiyang cuisine.
The menu changes from time to time, mainly offering classic Huaiyang dishes, such as squirrel fish, lion's head, blanched dried shreds, Wensi tofu, etc., as well as local snacks, including potstickers, shortbread, etc., with a wide range of choices.
The monthly sales volume was once as high as more than 30,000 copies, and it was called "the chef's main dish" by many diners. The pan needs to be constantly turned over during the frying process to ensure that one side is slightly yellow, and the other side remains white, and the finished product is both gold and white. The pot is crispy and crispy, crispy but not burnt. The surface of the pot is lined with sausages and bacon, which are neatly sliced. Different from Sichuan and Guangdong, Huaiyang's cured meat is sweet and salty. The amount of lap-mei pot is abundant, but it will cause a greasy feeling after eating too much.
Stir-fried QQ river shrimp is a popular dish. The river shrimp selected by the little chef are fresh and clean, the shrimp are white and full in shape. Sauté the shrimp with the peas and add a small amount of vinegar. The appearance of the vinegar grains is similar to the pearl powder balls in milk tea, and the inside is table vinegar, which is easy to be bitten. Vinegar granules are only convenient for diners who like to dip in vinegar, if they are not eaten, they will have no effect on the overall taste of the dish. The shrimp meat is delicate and the dish is refreshing. The taste of Xiao Chef's stir-fried QQ River shrimp is worthy of recognition, but there is nothing special about it, it is a solid and stable dish.
At the beginning of 2019, Little Chef launched a series of dishes with a lion head, which consists of four dishes, namely eight treasure lion head, three shrimp lion head, crab roe lion head and black truffle lion head. Babao lion head is not a new product, and it has always been the main product of the little chef for a long time. The lion's head is braised in addition to the pork belly, but also adds a variety of ingredients such as meat dumplings, peanuts, fragrant rice, taro, etc., the lion's head is wrapped in salted egg yolk in the middle, which is fragrant and flavorful, fat but not greasy, and the bibimbap has a better flavor. Different from the eight-treasure lion head with complicated ingredients, the three-shrimp lion head is mainly made of fresh shrimp. The reason why it is named "three shrimps" is because the shrimp roe, shrimp brain, and shrimp roe are selected, and the shrimp is cut into cubes, the shrimp brain is boiled in soup, and the shrimp roe is used to cook and roast. The lion's head is tender in taste, the meat is smooth and greasy, and the soup is rich. Compared with the eight treasure lion head and the three shrimp lion head, the crab roe lion head and the black truffle lion head are average and are not recommended to try.
The quality of the little chef's products is not stable enough, the appearance of the dishes lacks the exquisite beauty of Huaiyang cuisine, and the taste is too salty from time to time. Nanjing has a number of small chefs, the strength of the stores is similar, the level is not much different, diners can choose nearby. The poor quality of service is a common problem in all stores. The clerk's hands and feet are not quick enough, the table is not cleaned up in time, and when the number of diners is large, the diners at each table cannot be taken into account, and the service is sluggish. Some stores such as Xinjiekou store, Shengtai Road store, and Jiangning Wanda store have banquet halls to meet the needs of banquets.
